Case study: Maximising a couple's income from jobseeker's payments
Introduction
(2024 rates)
Mary is working and earning €224 a week. Her days at work have been reduced permanently to 3 days. She has an entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB). As her days at work are permanently reduced, she will be assessed for JB as a part-time worker and not a systematic short-time worker.
John has been out of work for some time and his JB claim has come to an end. He has applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA). He has been offered a part-time job and will be working 2 days and earning €100 each week.
John and Mary have 2 children aged 7 and 12. They have no assessable means other than that from employment.
What social welfare payments can John and Mary claim and which payments will maximise their household income?
Answer
In the case of Mary and John, you must do 4 separate calculations to find out which social welfare payment or combination of payments will maximise their income.
You must calculate their social welfare entitlement based on the 4 following situations:
- John claims JA for the whole family – see ‘Assessment 1’ below
- Mary claims JB for the whole family – see ‘Assessment 2’ below
- John claims JA and Mary claims Working Family Payment (WFP) – see ‘Assessment 3’ below
- John and Mary claim separate social welfare payments: John claims JA and Mary claims JB – see ‘Assessment 4’ below.
Assessment 1: John claims JA for the family
Personal rate €232
IQA* rate €154
IQC** rate €100 (IQC for 2 children - one child under 12 and one child 12 or over)
Total €486
Less means €98 (from Mary’s employment – see Note 1 below)
Less means €36 (from John’s employment – see Note 2 below)
Total JA for John €352
*Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA)
** Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC)
| Total income for Assessment 1:
Add their sources of income together to find their total income: John’s JA + Mary’s income from work + John’s income from work = total income €352 + €224 + €100 = €676 Total income = €676 |
Assessment 2: Mary claims JB for the family
Personal rate €232
IQA €154 (not reduced as John’s earnings are only €100)
IQC €100 (IQC for 2 children - one child under 12 and one child 12 or over)
Total JB €486
However, because Mary is working part-time 3 days each week, she is only eligible to claim for JB for 2 days. She will get two-fifths (40%) of €486.
Mary’s JB payment is €194.40 payment for 3 days of unemployment.
| Total income for Assessment 2:
Add their sources of income together to find their total income: Mary’s JB + Mary’s income from work + John’s income from work = total income €194.40 + €224 + €100 = €518.40 Total income = €518.40 |
Assessment 3: John claims JA and Mary claims WFP
1. John’s JA claim:
Personal rate €232
No IQA
Half-rate IQC €50 (IQC for 2 children - one child under 12 and one child 12 or over)
Total €282
Less means €49 (half Mary’s means – see Note 1 and 3 below)
Less means €18 (half John’s means – see Note 2 and 3 below)
Total JA for John €215
2. Mary’s WFP claim:
Add their assessable income together:
Mary’s income from work* €224
John’s income from work* €100
John’s JA payment €215
Total assessable income €539
*Income from work less disregards
| WFP limit for couple with 2 children | €746 |
| Less family’s assessable income |
€539 |
| €207 |
60% of €207 = €124.20
WFP payment for Mary = €124 (rounded)
| Total income for Assessment 3:
Add their sources of income together to find their total income: Mary’s WFP payment + Mary’s income from work + John’s income from work + John’s JA payment = total income €124 + €224 + €100 + €215 = €663 Total income = €663 |
Assessment 4: John and Mary claim separate jobseeker’s payments
1. John’s JA claim for himself only:
Personal rate €232
No IQA
Half-rate IQC €50 (IQC for 2 children - one child under 12 and one child 12 or over)
Total €282
Less means €49 (half Mary’s means – see Note 1 and 3 below)
Less means €18 (half John’s means – see Note 2 and 3 below)
Total JA for John €215
2. Mary’s JB claim for herself only:
Personal rate €232
No IQA
Half IQC €50 (for 2 children)
Total JB €282
However, because she is working part-time 3 days each week, she will get two-fifths (40%) of €282.
Mary’s JB payment is €112.80 - payment for 3 days of unemployment.
Maximum payment rule:
€215 + €112.80 = €327.80, this amount is less than the maximum payment of €486 (see note 4), so John’s JA payment will not be reduced.
| Total income for Assessment 4:
Add their sources of income together to find their total income: John’s JA payment + John’s income from work + Mary’s JB payment + Mary’s income from work = total income €215 + €100 + €112.80 + €224 = €651.80 Total income = €651.80 |
Conclusion
In this case study, the family are better off with Assessment 1 (John claims JA for the whole family).
However, assessment 4 (John and Mary claim separate jobseeker payments) might be better since both partners are eligible for training and education schemes in their own right.
Note 1
Mary’s means from work for John’s JA assessment are calculated as follows:
Income from work of €224 less €20 for each day worked up to a maximum of €60 (3 days). 60% of the balance is assessed as means.
€224 - €60 = €164
60% of €164 = €98 (rounded)
Mary’s means are calculated as €98
Note 2
John’s means from work for JA are calculated as follows:
1. Calculate John’s average daily earnings:
Get his total weekly assessable earnings from employment and divide by the number of days he worked that week.
Total weekly earnings ÷ number of days worked = average daily earnings.
€100 ÷ 2 = €50
2. Next calculate John’s daily means from work
First disregard any income not taken into account. Income not taken into account is €20 for each day worked up to a maximum of €60 (3 days). Then 60% of the balance is assessed as means.
Average daily earnings - €20 = total
Total x 60% = daily means from work.
€50 – €20 = 30
30 x 60% = €18
3. Finally, find John’s weekly means from work
Multiply his daily means by the number of days worked.
Daily means from work x number of days worked = weekly means from work.
€18 x 2 = €36
John’s means are assessed as €36
Note 3
Joint means are halved if spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is:
- Getting a social welfare payment (except Child Benefit, Early Childcare Supplement, Disablement Pension, a guardian's payment, Supplementary Welfare Allowance, Domiciliary Care Allowance or half-rate Carer's Allowance)
- On a Further Education and Training (FET) course or on a VTOS course and getting an allowance in their own right
Mary’s means from work is €98 – see ‘Note 1’ above. John’s means from work is €36 – see ‘Note 2’ above.
In Assessments 3 and 4, the couples combined means is halved because both are getting social welfare payments. In Assessment 3 Mary is getting WFP and John is getting JA. In Assessment 4 Mary is getting JB and John is getting JA.
As a result, Mary’s means is €49 and John’s means is €18 for Assessments 3 and 4.
Note 4
Maximum payment rule:
If one of a couple is claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and the other is getting of one of the social welfare payments listed below, the total amount paid to the couple cannot exceed the maximum amount paid to one person (including dependants) on one social welfare payment. However, you can choose the higher-rate payment as the primary payment.
- Illness Benefit
- Disablement Pension (when paid with Illness Benefit or Incapacity Supplement)
- Injury Benefit
- Invalidity Pension
- State Pension (Non-Contributory)
- State Pension (Contributory)
- Jobseeker's Benefit
- Jobseeker's Allowance
- Farm Assist
Where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of a JA claimant is getting JB, the Department of Social Protection assesses the maximum payment based on the premise that the person is fully unemployed. This means, if the claimant is getting a reduced JB (for example 2 days JB) because they are working, they will be assessed as though they are getting full-rate JB.
In the case study above, the maximum payment for the family is: Personal rate + IQA + IQC (full rate for 2 children) = maximum payment for the family
€232 + €154 + €100 = €458
In Assessment 4 of the case study, John’s JA payment and Mary’s JB payment combined are less than the maximum payment for the family, as a result, there is no change to John’s JA payment.
If Mary and John’s combined JA and JB payment was greater than the maximum payment for the family, John’s JA payment would be reduced by the difference.